Aden Echo, a young boy who grows up during the 1940s, is befriended by an unlikely spiritual teacher and martial arts master. Aden's apprenticeship with Xian helps him develop, along with physical skill, mystical understanding and meditative silence. Years later, Aden has to draw upon his unusual experiences with Xian to survive unspeakable horror and violence during the Vietnam War. In the autumn of 1972, recently discharged from the Air Force, Aden is plunged into the cauldron of community psychiatry, where he is confronted with chaos and danger that test his unique capacities. Beset by the...

Aden Echo, a young boy who grows up during the 1940s, is befriended by an unlikely spiritual teacher and martial arts master. Aden's apprenticeship with Xian helps him develop, along with physical skill, mystical understanding and meditative silence. Years later, Aden has to draw upon his unusual experiences with Xian to survive unspeakable horror and violence during the Vietnam War. In the autumn of 1972, recently discharged from the Air Force, Aden is plunged into the cauldron of community psychiatry, where he is confronted with chaos and danger that test his unique capacities. Beset by the...